


Prince in Darkness

by SpellCleaver



Series: Xtober 2020 [13]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Angstober, Gen, Luke Organa, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-19 03:02:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29868156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpellCleaver/pseuds/SpellCleaver
Summary: Luke Organa faces an ultimatum.
Relationships: Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader, Sheev Palpatine & Luke Skywalker
Series: Xtober 2020 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2112750
Comments: 14
Kudos: 83





	Prince in Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> [Originally posted here](https://spell-cleaver.tumblr.com/post/633417751764123648/day-26-angstober-fallen-angstober-day-27) for the prompts "Fallen" and "Deal with the Devil".
> 
> I'm slowly but surely editing and posting these!

"Senator Organa," Palpatine greeted from the command deck of his fancy toy. Luke didn't reply—just gritted his teeth and kept his head held high, even as Vader's grip tightened on his shoulders. "So kind of you to join us on board our newest achievement."

"It was not done voluntarily, I assure you," Luke bit out, and clenched his jaw even tighter when Vader's grip became bruising.

"I am sure it was not. Your opposition to my Death Star in the Senate has been most vocal. Futile and foolish but, I will admit, also incredibly brave."

Palpatine turned away from the viewport, which currently showed the tunnel of hyperspace stars. Luke didn't know where they were going, though he had a suspicion—he knew what had happened to Chandrila when Senator Mothma was caught in rebellion—and his heart jack-hammered in his throat.

"Your opposition to my proposition, on the other hand, has only been foolish."

Luke gritted his teeth. "I've told you both already," he growled, trying to yank his shoulder out of Vader's grip. " _No_."

"You have so much power, my boy. It would be heresy to waste it." Palpatine stepped closer, until he was right in front of Luke, and reached to grasp his chin in his hand. Luke tried to jerk away, but those fingers were strong, and dug in tightly. His nails pierced the skin of Luke's cheek; blood dribbled down his chin.

It was then that the Emperor released him, examining his red-tipped nails, rubbing his fingertips together.

"So much power," he echoed, "it is a wonder that the Organas had the audacity to adopt such a powerful Force-sensitive and parade him in plain sight. Did he not expect you to garner our attention?"

"I am a prince and a senator," Luke snarled. "I hold diplomatic immunity, you have no right—"

"This is my empire. This is my galaxy. I have the right to do whatever I please." He tilted his head. "Including dissolving the Senate the moment you were captured."

Luke blinked. "What!?"

"The Senate has been useless since we destroyed Chandrila as our statement of power. The only reason I have kept it for this long… has been to ensnare _you_."

"I told you. I _won't_ train to become a Sish, or whatever you call yourselves—I am royalty and a politician, not a cult member."

"Sith," came the correction. "And yes: you are royalty. Noble blood flows through your veins"—he spread his fingers, to show the red they were still dripping with—"whether you are an adopted Prince of Alderaan or not. Tell me, your sister—is she your twin by birth, or were you simply both adopted separately?"

"We were both adopted," Luke ground out. With the way he phrased it, it wasn't technically a lie.

Why it was so important that the galaxy never learnt that, Luke didn't know. But he had trusted his father until his dying day.

Palpatine hummed. "Very well. Then I suppose she is an acceptable bargaining chip after all."

There was a groaning around them, a subtle change in the humming machinery around them—and then they reverted to realspace.

Luke's breath caught in his throat. He'd been right.

Alderaan hung before him like a jewel.

And he stood on board a planet killer.

"I see you understand where this conversation is going," Palpatine said, smiling. "But you do not yet know all the facts. I know you are involved in the Rebellion. I know you all are. And when Lord Vader destroyed the _Tantive III_ at the Battle of Scarif, he knew perfectly well that your adoptive parents were aboard it."

That was a punch to the gut. Luke had _known_ that Vader had killed his parents at that battle, that he was the reason Leia had had to ascend to queen and Luke return to the Senate, the nest of vipers he'd tried to avoid for so long… But to hear it confirmed that it was _personal_ —

"You—" he choked out. "You killed my—"

"They were not yours," Vader growled suddenly; Luke cried out, his grip was so tight. Vader released him and Luke scrambled away, backing up against a console, staring at the two Sith with wide, terrified eyes. "And you were not theirs. You are _mine_."

_What the hells was that supposed to mean?_

"What!?" Luke wanted to cry, but he choked it down, kept his voice level. "What do you want from me? What are you _doing_?"

Palpatine wasn't speaking anymore. It was Vader, approaching him like an inexorable shadow, his breathing growing louder and louder with every step—

"You were not born an Organa. The Organas _stole you_ from your true father."

"No—" Luke whispered. "No, they loved me, you killed them—"

"I killed them," Vader said, "because _they stole you from me_."

Luke's head was full of white noise.

There was nothing but noise.

He stared at Vader, the sound of the respirator crashing, his own breath laboured and far too similar, Palpatine's quiet cackling in the background. There was the whirring of the Death Star, this horribly perfect planet killer, laser trained on his home.

And there was the Force—the Force that Fulcrum had taught him to hide in but never to use—screaming around him.

No.

No, no, _no_ —

"The Sith are your destiny," Palpatine declared, still from the command deck, pointing one crimson finger at Luke. "It is in your blood. You are a prince among us—a prince of the Empire, not some tiny planet. Lord Vader and I only want to restore you to your rightful place."

"That is why the Senate was not disbanded until you were in reach," Vader said, softer than Luke had ever expected that vocoder to be able to go. "That is why you are here." He reached for Luke's face the way Palpatine had, and—gently, ridiculously gently—brushed his fingers down his cheek. "I have waited for you for so long, my son. You will soon see that your place is here."

"Then why are you threatening my planet?" Luke bit out.

"Because you do not see it yet," Palpatine said, smiling toothily. "So we offer you a deal. Fall. Train as a Sith, under Lord Vader and myself. Serve the Empire… and I will ensure that nothing will ever threaten your planet, or your precious sister, again."

Luke gritted his teeth.

No.

No, he had to refuse. His father had warned him, his mother had warned him, Fulcrum had warned him—

But they were all dead.

And his gaze was drawn to his beloved homeworld, bobbing beyond the viewport, among the stars, like an exquisite marble.

Leia was down there.

He owed it to her, and to their people, to protect them.

"Are we agreed?" Palpatine asked, still smiling. Vader dropped his hand from Luke's cheek to his shoulder, deceptively quiet.

Luke didn't take his eyes off Alderaan.

"…yes," he got out. "Yes."

Triumph roared around him. Luke pinched his lips and set his jaw.

"Yes, _Master_ ," Palpatine corrected.

Luke closed his eyes.

"Yes, Master," he uttered.


End file.
